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Comedy

Every episode covering Comedy.

"Steve Kaplan’s definition of comedy, I think, is very useful for understanding what can make unlikable protagonists compelling. And that’s really what we’re trying to do here, kind of unpick how to make someone that’s unlikable and make them compelling. He says that comedies, most comedies, are about an ordinary guy or girl who is struggling against insurmountable odds without any of the necessary skills in order to win, and yet they never give up hope."

— Stu Willis  |  DZ-3: Making Unlikeable Protagonists Compelling

KEY IDEAS

Laugh At Them, Not Just With Them

"they got us onside this incredibly cranky, incredibly racist person by making his racism so overt that we were laughing at him. And it allows you to have empathy or at least get on the side of this person so that even though they're unlikable you can be it's okay to spend time with them because you're laughing at them."

— Chas Fisher (00:23:46) · DZ-3: Making Unlikeable Protagonists Compelling

Steve Kaplan's Comedy Definition

"Steve Kaplan's definition of comedy, I think, is very useful for understanding what can make unlikable protagonists compelling. And that's really what we're trying to do here, kind of unpick how to make someone that's unlikable and make them compelling. He says that comedies, most comedies, are about an ordinary guy or girl who is struggling against insurmountable odds without any of the necessary skills in order to win, and yet they never give up hope."

— Stu Willis (00:05:40) · DZ-3: Making Unlikeable Protagonists Compelling

DZ-3: Making Unlikeable Protagonists Compelling

How do you keep an audience watching a character everyone in the film hates?
AI✦Stu and Chas invoke Steve Kaplan’s definition of comedy as an ordinary person struggling against insurmountable odds without the skills to win, applying it to understand how unlikable characters become comedically compelling rather than off-putting.✦
⏱ 1h 20m
30 MAR 2014
Listen if you want to understand how you can make audiences care about deeply flawed protagonists
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Stu and Chas tackle the first 20 pages of HOT FUZZ, AS GOOD AS IT GETS and GROUNDHOG DAY and try to work out what stops these a-holes from pushing the audience out of the move… →

DZ-83: A Very Thematic Stand-up Special!

What can screenwriters learn from the storytelling techniques used by stand-up comedians?
AI✦Stand-up comedians grip audiences for over an hour through structure and payoff, and Alice Fraser’s analysis of NANETTE, BABY COBRA, and IT’S THE FIREWORKS TALKING shows you how those same set-ups and transitions function as narrative tools in scripted work.✦
⏱ 2h 31m
8 SEP 2021
Listen if you want to understand how stand-up comedians grip audiences and build emotional arcs (and what narrative tools screenwriters can borrow from comedy)!
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Standup comedians can keep audiences gripped to their every word for over an hour, and often bring them to emotional climaxes by the end. So how do they do it and what tools can apply to scripted narratives… →

DZ-60: Unfilmables 1 - Engaging imagination

How can unfilmables enhance the experience of your script?
AI✦The episode breaks down how unfilmables communicate certain types of humour -- using examples like MY BRIDESMAID IS A BITCH and THE NICE GUYS to show where the joke lives on the page before it lives on screen.✦
⏱ 2h 25m
7 AUG 2019
Listen to discover how *produced* screenplays use unfilmables to shape tone, performance, and humour on the page.
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